Sweeping broom



J. 5. WILSON SWEEPING BROOM May 6, 1947.

Filed Dec. 30, 1944 INVENTOR. JOHNNIE 5- WILSON Patented May 6, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SWEEPIN G BROOM Johnnie S. Wilson, Cleveland, Ohio Application December 30, 1944, Serial No. 570,613

3 Claims.

This invention relates in general to new and practical improvements in sweeping brooms for sweeping floors, etc., and more particularly to dustless sweeping brooms in which liquid suitable for this purpose is fed from a reservoir to the generally absorbent tufts of these brooms.

The general object of this invention is the provision of a dustless sweeping broom of the type referred to above with means adapted to feed by capillary attraction liquid from a reservoir to the tufts of the broom, so as to effect proper control of the amount of liquid fed to these tufts.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a dustless sweeping broom of the type referred to above with a master wick for feeding liquid to the tufts of a broom and wick feeder means extended from said master wick to a reservoir, so as to feed by capillary attraction liquid from said reservoir to said master wick.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a dustless sweeping broom of the type referred to above with wick means adapted to feed by capillary attraction liquid from a reser voir to the tufts of a broom, and means adapted to effect and control the capillary attraction of these wick means to control and adjust the amount of liquid fed to these tufts.

Additional objects and novel features of construction, combinations and relations of parts by which the objects in view have been attained will appear and are set forth in detail in the course of the following pecification.

The drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification illustrates a practical embodiment of the invention, but it will be apparent as the specification proceeds that the structure may be modified and changed in various ways without departure from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal central sectional view through a sweeping broom built in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view through the sweeping broom shown in Fig. 1, the section being taken on line 2-2 of said figure; and

Fig. 3 is a, similar cross sectional view through the sweeping broom shown in Fig, 1, with the section taken on line 3-3 of said figure.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the cover member of the reservoir; and

Fig. 5 a plan view of the reservoir without its cover member.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section through the broom showing the arrangement of 2 communicating passages between the heads of the tufts and the master wick.

Referring now to the exemplified form of the invention shown in the drawing, reference numeral 2 denotes a sweeping broom, the wooden back or base member 3 of which mounts in bores 4 the butts 5 of tufts 5 which are secured in said bores as customary by staples not shown. Bores 4 openly communicate through smaller upwardly extended bores 7 with an elongated recess or chamber 8 in base member 3, and this chamber mounts in its bottom portion a master wick 9 which, when saturated, feeds through bores I llquid to the butts 5 and the exposed lower portions ill of tufts 6.

Master wick 9 is arranged in a space, H between the bottom wall l2 of chamber 8 and the recessed bottom wall IA of liquid reservoir l5. This reservoir, which is mounted in chamber 8, feeds liquid to the master wick by means of feeder wicks 16 arranged so as to transfer liquid from reservoir 15 to the master wick only by capillary attraction. Thus, feeder wicks l5 extend from master wick 9 upwardly into reservoir 15 through tubular members I! arranged in said reservoir, and these members are mounted on the bottom wall of reservoir I5 and have their lower end portions sealed to the edges of perforations l8 in said bottom wall. Tubular members H extend to the top of reservoir I5 and feeder wicks 16 extend through said tubular members into the reservoir, therefore, liquid can be fed from reservoir 15 to master wick 9 only by capillary attraction of feeder wicks I6. 7

Reservoir l5 embodies an elongated body portion l9 and a cover member 28 which rests on a gasket 2! on the inner flange 22 of said body portion. This cover member includes ear portions 23 which are secured to base member 3 by screws 24 and thus attach reservoir IS in proper working position to said base member.

Cover member 20 also effects control of the capillary attraction of feeder wicks l6 and for this purpose is formed with a diaphragm-like portion 25 in the top of said cover member by providing same with a plurality of closely related corrugations 26 encircling and forming portion 25. This arrangement permits vertical shifting of diaphragm-like portion 25 with respect to the cover member and squeezing of the wick feeders between portion 25 and. the upper edges of tubufar members I! so that capillary attraction of feeder wicks Hi can be substantially decreased or entirely stopped. A shifting of diaphragmlike portion 25 is effected by screw member 26' extended through a circular opening 21 in diaphragm-like portion 25 and threadedly engaged with a threaded bore 28 in a bracket member 29, which member is secured in body portion l9 op posite and in alignment with the opening 21 in cover member 20. When screw member 26 is fully unscrewed and removed from the opening 21 in cover 20, opening 21 serves as a filling opening for the reservoir and when screwed into the bracket, such screw member serves to shift the diaphragm-like portion 25 into position to effect the desired control of the capillary attraction of feeder wicks 16. A more definite and exact control of the capillary attraction of these feeder wicks is effected by outward bulges 28 in diaphragm-like portion 25 opposite tubular members [1.

The thus constructed broom mounts a bracket 29 secured to base member 3 by screws 30. This bracket includes an inclined perforated portion 3|, the perforation 32 of which permits attachment of a broomstick 33 to the broom. This bracket is constructed for attachment to base member 3 so that either side of the broom can readily be used.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a broom a back member, tufts secured to said back member so that their butt ends are openly exposed, a master wick in said back member opposite the butts of said tufts, a liquid storage means supported on said back member above said master wick, narrow tubular means in said liquid storage means having its lower end extended through and attached to the bottom wall of said liquid storage means and its upper end terminating adjacent to the top edge of said liquid storage means, wick feeder means extended from said master wick through said narrow tubular means into said liquid storage means,

a cover member for said liquid storage means including a downwardly shiftable portion opposite the upper edge of said tubular means, and means to shift said shiftable portion of said cover member toward the upper edge of said tubular means to pinch said wick feeder means and effect control of the amount of liquid carried by capillary attraction of the wick feeder means from said liquid storage means to said master wick.

2. A broom as described in claim 1, wherein the shiftable portion of said cover member is formed by a diaphragm-like panel in the top portion of said cover member, and wherein the panel is encircled by a plurality of corrugations arranged substantially parallel in spaced relation to the edges of said top portion.

3. A broom as described in claim 1, wherein said shiftable portion of said cover member consists of a diaphragm-like panel in the top portion of said cover member, and wherein said diaphragm-like panel includes an outwardly bulged area opposite said tubular means and wherein means are provided to shift by said shifting means said panel with its budged-out area to ward said tubular means and effect a pinching and squeezing action on the wick feeder means extended through said tubular means.

JOHNNIE S. WILSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 602,806 Johnston Apr. 19, 1898 769,376 Garnet Sept. 6, 1904 650,577 Wiens May 29, 1900 

